This blog has been written by Dr. Alice Onyango “If we continue to treat this disease normally, it will treat us abnormally” is a popular quote in Kenya, recently originating from Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, the Cabinet Secretary of Health. This is true in all facets of life including research, where we must accept a “new … Continue reading
Category Archives: East Africa
New study finds that severe undernutrition of cattle increases their methane production
A study by researchers at the International ILRI, and partners in Germany investigated the effects of moderate to severe levels of feeding below an animal’s energy requirement on enteric methane production in young Boran steers. The study found that methane produced by an animal per unit feed intake increases as the amount of feed consumed by an animal decreases. Continue reading
Setting up a soil analytical laboratory at University of Kabianga
The Restoring African Degraded Landscaped (ReDEAL) project is an interdisciplinary and collaboratively coordinated research project that aims at helping smallholder to avoid further and possibly reverse land degradation without compromising livelihoods and food production. The project partners are Lancaster University, University of Manchester, CIFOR, ILRI and the university of Kabianga. Part of the project is … Continue reading
Where does the methane in the atmosphere come from?
In February 2020 a team from ILRI’s Mazingira Centre, Royal Holloway, University of London and Cambridge University went on a trip through Southern Kenya to sample air. Sampling air may sound arbitrary yet the bigger aim of this field campaign was to derive samples from livestock including cattle, sheep, goats and camels as well as … Continue reading
A new project is launched to support climate-smart livestock strategies and investments in East Africa
Originally posted on ILRI news:
It is hard to overstate the role that the livestock sector plays in ensuring food security in sub-Saharan Africa. The sector provides a vital source of income to most of the rural poor. Livestock production also provides nutritional benefits to people through their milk, meat and eggs, which are protein…
Two students from Braeburn International School Arusha joining Mazingira for a week
At the end of February 2019, two students from the Braeburn International School Arusha joined the Mazingira Team for one week. They were not just looking over our shoulders to learn about what a typical environmental laboratory looks alike but actually got quite some hands-on experience. Read their short report below: By Melchim Roothaert and … Continue reading
Building capacity in greenhouse gas analytics beyond ILRI’s Mazingira Centre
Besides the scaling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using models (see our previous training event here) there is a crucial need to build capacity on core analytics for GHG concentrations measurements such as gas chromatography. Based on the available instruments within ILRI’s Mazingira Centre, local universities (Maseno University) and national research centres (KALRO) we invited … Continue reading
First continuous greenhouse gas measurements and validation of satellite derived land surface temperature estimates in East African drylands
by Thomas Dowling (King’s College London) and Lutz Merbold (Mazingira Centre, ILRI) Since the beginning of August 2018, the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI’s) Kapiti research station, approximately 60km South of Nairobi, has become a reference site for the validation of satellite derived land surface temperature (LST) in partnership with King’s College London (KCL). While … Continue reading
Investing in low emissions development strategies in the dairy sector: Viable options for Kenya and Ethiopia
Originally posted on Sustainable livestock systems:
Livestock production plays a critical role in sustaining livelihoods and ensuring food and nutrition security for millions of families across Africa. The centrality of livestock in achieving sustainable development for cannot be overstated. It is also true that livestock production is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from…
New studies provide the first accurate estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from East African livestock
Originally posted on ILRI Clippings:
ILRI scientist John Goopy describes ILRI’s Mazingira Centre research on livestock and greenhouse gas emissions to ILRI partners at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and leads them on a tour of Mazingira’s Greenhouse Gas Laboratory, in Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: CCAFS/S Kilungu). The following…